MARCH 15, 2001

Teams are not cheating

MAX MOSLEY, the FIA president, has calmed fears that illegal traction control systems are already running in Formula One.

Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen said that in Australia he noticed the Ferrari-engined Sauber behaving in a way that suggested traction control was in use.

But Mosley has reassured the teams that the FIA does not support the claims. "We disagree," commented Mosley. "And we are better placed than Heinz-Harald Frentzen to know what the various teams are doing."

The FIA have agreed to legalize traction control from the fifth race of the season in Barcelona because it is so hard to police.

And although Mosley believes the system itself is not in Formula One yet, he acknowledged that teams are able to create systems that can do a similar job but are currently within the rules.

"It is a fact that some teams are able to tune their engines so that wheelspin becomes unlikely and more manageable," he told Autosport.